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A Leela of Her Own
Plot A new pizza restaurant run by Cygnoids has moved in across the street from the Planet Express building. Leela convinces the others that they should go to greet their new neighbors. They find that the Cygnoids have much to learn about Earth customs. Fry tries to help them get adjusted, first by giving them advice on how to make pizza (such as not using live bees as an ingredient) and then by suggesting that they learn how to play blernsball. The Planet Express staff and the Cygnoids form teams and go to a blernsball diamond in a nearby park. While playing blernsball with the Cygnoids, Leela's lack of depth perception causes her to injure opposing players by beaning them in the head. Gaining notice from the owner of the New New York Mets, who thinks that having a one-eyed woman repeatedly bean opposing players would be a good novelty act, she becomes the first female player to play professional blernsball. Leela sees herself as a pioneer for women in sports; however, other female players see her as an embarrassment and a joke because she is only able to hit batters and unable to get any outs. Leela is on the fast track to becoming the worst blernsball player ever and seeks help from Hank Aaron XXIV, a distant relative of Hank Aaron, who is currently the worst blernsball player of all time. Leela, not wanting to be the worst blernsball player of all time, is delighted when she throws a strike to Hank Aaron after taking his advice. At the next blernsball game, the Cygnoids are selling their pizza in the stadium and their franchise is bought by Fishy Joe. Near the end of the game, Leela pleads to have the chance to prove she is not the worst blernsball player ever, explaining that she has been training with Hank Aaron. The skipper gives in and Leela is found facing the second woman to play in major league blernsball, Jackie Anderson. Jackie was also the woman who first told Leela that she was making female athletes look bad. Leela throws two strikes, but on the third pitch Jackie hits a grand slam blern and wins the match. Leela walks away, unhappy until Jackie tells her that Leela really was a role model after all, since she encouraged women to be try harder than ever in order to prove that they weren't all like Leela. Meanwhile, at the blernsball museum, Hank Aaron XXIV sadly leaves his post as the worst blernsball player ever (now occupied by Leela), with the head of the original Hank Aaron consoling him by reminding him that he is still be the worst football player ever. Debuts First appearance of the Cygnoids of Cygnus 5. Gadgets and Inventions "Censored" Black Box generator, in the locker room scene. Quotes Leela: Oh, put down the binoculars, Fry. The wall of that strip club isn't going to collapse twice in one day. Fry: I know, and I've grown to accept that. Now I'm more interested in that new pizza parlour across the street. Kinda makes me pine for my days as a pizza delivery boy. "Here's you pizza," I'd say. "I didn't order any," they'd say. And then I'd be off to my next adventure. Cygnoid Woman: Oh, thank you, magic biped! Leela: Ah, here we are. The worst player in history. If I can be just a little better than him I can slink away with my head held high. References *The title is a reference to the 1992 film A League of Their Own. *Abner Doubledeal, the owner of the Ultimate Robot Fighting League in Raging Bender, has, by this episode, become the owner of the New New York Mets. His name references Abner Doubleday, who was fitted, long after his demise, to the long standing and widely believed myth that he was the inventor of baseball. A.G. Spalding, the sporting goods magnate, who also originated the financial ruin of the game's first league, the National Association,Decline and Fall of The National Association hand-picked and headed a commission composed primarily of business associates to proclaim Doubleday as baseball's creator in 1905.The Doubleday Myth *Leela's uniform number, 7/8, references Eddie Gaedel, a midget signed to the St. Louis Browns in 1951 as a publicity stunt, and the only player to wear the number 1/8. In his only major league plate appearance, Eddie was told not to swing, and walked on four pitches, making it as far as third base. *A parody of the Rainbow Man can be seen at the opening shot of Leela's first game where he is holding up a sign that says "Glorx 3:16", a reference to the "John 3:16. *[[]The Blernsball Hall of Fame]] exhibit to honor "players who broke the various colour barriers", shows a green alien, a purple alien, and the half black and half white alien from the Star Trek eipsode "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield". *The hyperbolic size of Mark McGwire's biceps is a reference to his suspected illegal steroid usage. *The Cavern On The Green, in 30th C Central Park, New New York, is a reference to the similarly placed 20th C Tavern on the Green, and The Cavern club where the Beatles were introduced to Brian Epstein on 9 November 1961. *The New York Mets' 1980s slogan was "Baseball the Way it Ought to Be!" The New New York Mets' slogan is "Blernsball the Way it Oughtn't Be". *The cover of Sports Illustrated featured says, "Leela's Beans: The Mets' Magical Fruit." This refers to a children's song about beans, "The Musical Fruit," which describes their flatulent properties. *Leela is asked for an autograph, to eBay, referencing autograph and memorabilia sales. Leela: "That's a popular name today. Little "e" big "B"?". *Hank Aaron XXIV's Atlanta shirt pictures a trident in the place of the Braves tomahawk symbol. This is not only a parody, but a reference to the episode The Deep South featuring The Lost City of Atlanta. *Jackie Anderson is the first African-American female blernsball player who must follow -not- in Leela's footsteps to make good the reputation of female blernsball players; her number is 24. Jackie Robinson was the first African-American professional baseball player; his number was 42. *Leela, the veteran player, (however bad her playing might have been) throws Jackie, the aspiring player, her towel. This is a parody of a "Mean" Joe Greene Coca-Cola commercial, in which the pro similarly, albeit more accurately, gifts a young fan. *The Citgo sign in the background at 30th C Fenway Park is often seen on 20th C televised Boston Red Sox games. *A 30th C sign at Fenway Park reads, "Home of the Green Monster", the popular name for a high wall famous for stopping home runs at the 20th C park. Both a literally green and monstrous monster, and the wall, are shown in this episode. Foreshadowing Trivia Goofs *The rules of Blernsball are far simpler than they were when first seen in "Fear of a Bot Planet". *Hermes says that "In 77 innings, Leela is yet to record an out." This would be impossible in baseball. The number of innings pitched is the number of outs divided by three. This may be the sort of deliberate mistake to create an 'in' joke of the type in Star Wars, where Han Solo boasts that he has done the "Kessel Run", a space travel over a distance, in X parsecs, also a measure of distance. External Links Episode Transcript Footnotes Leela of Her Own, A